Chapter 5
Periwinkle
By the time we’ve reached the stretch of flat, grassy terrain where the helicopters are landing, a dozen army trucks and half as many tanks have already roared up around it.
A bunch of the evacuated humans drift over, looking dazed or nervous. The wave of anxiety wafting off them collides with a current of aggression emanating from the new arrivals, leaving me adrift in a sour-and-spicy soup.
Soldiers pour out of the ground vehicles, guns at the ready. One of them spots a shadowkind being with a prominent cat-like tail who’s moving between the tents and shouts, “It’s one of the mutants!”
Mutants? That’s a new one. I think I prefer “monsters,” or even “terrorist gangsters from outer space,” but there’s no time to debate with the armed figures about proper terminology. The uniformed man next to the one who shouted opens fire.
The cat-tailed woman yelps and dives into the shadows, leaving only a puff of essence behind. The rest of us flinch, even the humans.
“Where the fuck did it go?” the first soldier yells.
I’d feel more like telling him if he wasn’t looking to fill us with bullets. My stance stiffens.
Rollick pushes to the front of our increasingly frothed-up crowd with his usual air of authority—and a crackle of power I have to think the mortals can sense at least a tad.
The demon fixes the soldiers with a cool stare. “What do you think you’re doing? Everyone here is already safe—or they were until you started shooting.”
Another soldier twitches, aiming his gun at Rollick. “Are you one of them?”
The demon doesn’t appear fazed by the threat of being pelted with ammunition. “One of the people who’s been helping evacuate this city so as few civilians as possible get hurt? Yes. What kind of ‘them’ were you expecting?”
A soldier farther along their swarm points to a being who’s just poked his spike-dappled head from a tent to see what’s going on. “There’s another one! Everyone, get away from it.”
As she levels her gun, Rollick holds out his hands. “There’s no reason to be afraid of Spur. I can’t say he smells the best, but he’s a very amiable conversationalist. No offense, Spur.”
“None taken, boss!” the shadowkind calls out as he ducks out of view again, preferring to remain bullet-free.
Mutters pass between the soldiers, and several more rifles swerve toward Rollick. “Stay right there,” one orders. “No sudden movements.”
Rollick rolls his eyes. “I don’t suppose anyone here is really in charge?”
The back ramp of the huge helicopter has just swung open with the stilling of its blades. “That would be me. Everyone, hold your fire—for now.”
Not one but two men clamber down from the body of the helicopter. If they were illustrations in a book of opposites, they couldn’t look more perfect.
The man who strides forward first—the one who spoke—is built like one of the tanks he apparently commands: tall and wide and with lots of blocky edges.
He’s even got a long, pointed nose that could stand in for one of their jutting guns.
His skin is almost the same color, a dull brown.
Bits of sandy brown hair poke from beneath his official cap.
The crest on the hat shines very prettily—I’ll give him that.
Hustling behind him comes a figure at least a foot both shorter and slimmer, whose close-cropped black hair gleams in place of a cap and whose pale features look sanded smooth. He comes to a stop at the bigger man’s flank, snapping to strict attention while his companion flexes his broad shoulders.
I wonder what you’d get if you could mush them together. The most perfectly average specimen of all humanity?
Unfortunately, at that moment a shadowkind creature like some kind of slimy elephant comes charging toward the helicopter with a blare of its two trunks. The big brown man spins and swings his arm toward it.
Booms of gunfire reverberate through the air. The creature gives a bugling sound that manages to sound consternated and simply barrels onward, looking even more unsettling with several streaks of smoky essence trailing behind it like party streamers.
“That’s not how you deal with them!” Hail snaps, but his voice is lost in another deluge of gunfire. His stance tensing, he whips his hand forward.
The slime-ephant jerks to a stop with frost lacing its four legs. Letting out a trumpet that’s more startled than anything else, it tips over on its side, crushing the hood of one of the trucks.
But none of the soldiers. We should get points for no loss of life.
The military folks look like they don’t want to declare anyone except themselves winners. The guns flick toward Hail next.
With a disgusted curl of his lip, the fae man steps into the shadows before anyone can attempt to shoot him. I wince inwardly.
He already resented humans enough for killing his mentor. They’re hardly setting the stage for a brand-new friendship.
The soldiers press closer to the refugee camp, their guns twitching left and right as if they think the weapons can detect who’s shadowkind and who’s human. The humans who are among us might look even more bewildered than they did before, which is an impressive feat.
“Where’s the freak who threw around his weird powers?” the tank-like man demands. “Harboring criminals is a crime too, you know.”
Rollick claps his hands. The firm sound radiates through the camp like a thunderclap. It holds enough supernatural power to set the hairs on the back of my neck on end.
If it comes down to demon vs. tanks and machine guns, I’d like the chance to step aside before I’m caught in the crossfire.
“Enough!” our leader says. “We aren’t your problem. My icy colleague just saved at least a few of your lives when none of you managed to do it. The actual problem is over there.”
He jabs his hand toward the city in its cloak of darkness that not even the brightening sunlight can penetrate. “Do you want to help us deal with that, or are you here to add to our problems instead of fixing them?”
Mr. Tank does his best to loom, although he looks like he might tilt right over. “Listen up. I’m Colonel Hueber of the U.S. Army, and I’m in charge of this situation from here on. Who—and what—the hell are you?”
I get the impression he’s trying to shoot Rollick with his eyes. Thankfully the colonel doesn’t appear to possess any supernatural powers of his own.
Rollick smiles mildly. “We’ll be glad to have your assistance, Colonel Hueber. I think it’d be best if we worked together. It’s clear your associates don’t have any experience dealing with the sort of threat this catastrophe poses.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“You can call me Rollick. I’m a resident of this country as much as you are.
Some of us here may be something other than what you think of as human—I won’t deny that.
But we’re looking to help, not to harm, and as soon as this mess is cleaned up, we’ll disappear and you can pretend you never knew we existed. ”
Colonel Hueber’s jaw works as if he’s chewing over Rollick’s suggestion—and doesn’t think it tastes all that good.
“From what I hear, things like you have something to do with this threat.” He waves toward the city. “All this shadowy smoky stuff. It comes out of you too, doesn’t it?”
I can’t keep quiet. “The same blood comes out of you as would come out of a terrorist gangster!” Although possibly not one from outer space, I suppose.
Several pairs of eyes, including the colonel’s, jerk toward me.
Oops—I wasn’t looking to become their new target.
I lift my hands in surrender, and Falkor squirms around one of my arms all the way to the other.
Hueber’s lips part in momentary astonishment before he regains his grip on himself. “What the fuck is that thing on you, lady?”
The slender, softer man next to him clears his throat. “I don’t think she’s actually a lady, sir, at least not in the traditional sense.”
“I can figure that much out for myself, Major Yin. I was being polite. Don’t know why I’m bothering with these damned mutant freaks or whatever they are.”
I peel my self-declared pet off my arm and tuck him against my chest, where he deigns to coil up in my embrace. “We aren’t mutants or freaks, and we do appreciate politeness. We can be polite too. I don’t know what this little guy is, but he hasn’t hurt anyone either.”
Raze sounds as if he’s swallowed a growl. “Don’t you think we should focus on the actual dangers here, like Rollick said?”
Hueber squints at us as if recalibrating, trying to work out just how many of the figures he’s faced with are inhuman. “You’ve rounded up all these people from the city. What do you think you’re going to do with them? Are you casting them out so you can take over the place for yourselves?”
Jonah steps up next to Rollick. “I’m human.
I’ll bleed for you if you need me to prove it.
And I can tell you that our allies in this catastrophe can’t survive in whatever’s happened to the city either.
The creatures that’ve been coming out of it are different from anything any of us are used to.
We’re just trying to protect as many people as we can. Isn’t that what you want to do too?”
Again, the colonel appears to deliberate. I’m not sure that is what he wants. But it would probably sound bad if he claimed to be more interested in spraying us with bullets indiscriminately, which works in our favor.
Before he can say anything else, one of the shell-shocked evacuees meanders forward.
She swipes her mussed hair back from her forehead and darts a nervous glance toward Rollick and my team before speaking.
“They’re telling the truth. I didn’t know what to do—I was feeling sick, but everything outside looked just as awful—they came and helped us leave. ”
Her voice quavers but doesn’t falter in her declaration of support.
Another of the humans pushes toward the soldiers with an energy that’s almost manic.
“Yeah. Even if they’re freaks—we were totally freaking out without them.
They’ve been looking after us. Got us food, gave us a place to lay low now that we’re out.
That one even stopped one of those real monsters that was going to pounce on me. ” He points a shaky hand at Raze.
Murmurs of agreement ripple through the refugees who’ve gathered to watch the confrontation. Threads of wariness still lace their moods, but relief and gratitude sweep over me faster, comforting as a hot cinnamon bun.
As more voices are raised with their own accounts of how various shadowkind helpers came to their aid, a tingle spreads over my scalp. I realize my hair must be glowing my happiness at the same moment as Major Yin’s eyes widen in my direction.
Colonel Hueber notices before his underling can say anything. “What in the blazes—”
He jerks up a pistol he was holding at his side.
Even as I flinch, the major jumps in with a brisk but warm tone.
“Look, they’re even providing a light in the darkness.
That’s fascinating. Who would have imagined talents like that actually exist outside of movies?
They could make pretty handy allies in more than just this situation. ”
I don’t love the way Hueber’s expression turns thoughtful, but he does lower his weapon.
The colonel motions to the gathered soldiers without acknowledging Major Yin’s words. “Let’s speak to some of the city’s residents and get their full accounts. As long as none of the… strange ones interfere, we can—”
One of Rollick’s assistants pops into view and bursts out a desperate warning. “Over by the rift—a whole swarm of the warped creatures just barged out, and they look like they’re on a rampage.”